Speaker 1: Hey everybody, thanks for joining us today on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick
Speaker 1: Warren and today we're closing out our series the Miracle
Speaker 1: of Mercy. Rick has shown us how God's mercy can
Speaker 1: lift your guilt, heal your wounds, and transform the way
Speaker 1: you live. If you missed any part of this series,
Speaker 1: you'll find it on our website pastorick dot com. And
Speaker 1: now we're going to wrap up this series with the
Speaker 1: final part of a message called being an Agent of Mercy.
Speaker 2: In the world, hospitality is a lost art today in
Speaker 2: our culture. We don't know how to do this. First
Speaker 2: we're too busy, and second we're too self centered. We
Speaker 2: don't know how to just slow down and have hospitality
Speaker 2: with people a cup of coffee, inviting people into your
Speaker 2: home for a meal. You realize how radical that is
Speaker 2: today to invite people who you know have you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about your close friends. Just invite somebody
Speaker 2: to come for dinner. You have never been for dinner.
Speaker 2: That's pretty unreal. But the Bible over and over emphasizes hospitality.
Speaker 2: People are hungry for hospitality, and the Bible tells us
Speaker 2: in Matthew twenty five that the one thing we will
Speaker 2: be judged for at the judgment is how you treated
Speaker 2: other people. And in that passage in Matthew twenty five,
Speaker 2: Jesus says this, I was alone, and you welcomed me,
Speaker 2: and you showed me hospitality. You brought me in, you
Speaker 2: welcomed me. When was the last time you showed anybody
Speaker 2: a stranger hospitality? I want you to hear Brandon's example
Speaker 2: of being an agent of mercy.
Speaker 3: This give him a warm welcome.
Speaker 4: Well, hey, settleback. It is a gift to be here
Speaker 4: with you.
Speaker 5: Years ago, as a small group of young adults, we
Speaker 5: had a little New Year's Eve party and invited some
Speaker 5: friends of friends, some of whom weren't weren't Christians.
Speaker 4: Dave was twenty two at the time.
Speaker 5: He was incredibly sharp when it came to things like
Speaker 5: philosophy and writing and deep thinking, but he was quite
Speaker 5: socially awkward and was lonely as a result. You know
Speaker 5: those people who sometimes their intelligence gets in the way.
Speaker 5: Feeling uncomfortable in social settings, he spent much of his
Speaker 5: time alone. Wanted to show some mercy. I invited him
Speaker 5: to our little New Year's shindig. At the party, Dave
Speaker 5: thanked me for inviting him, but he admitted with embarrassment
Speaker 5: that this was the first time he was ever invited
Speaker 5: to a party.
Speaker 4: Could you imagine that in twenty two.
Speaker 5: Years of his life, here was a guy who was
Speaker 5: completely overlooked by the world around him. No one had
Speaker 5: ever welcomed him to be a part of their community. Well,
Speaker 5: our small group welcomed him in with kindness and love,
Speaker 5: which actually completely overwhelmed him. We embraced him, We engaged
Speaker 5: him in conversations, but we talked to him about things
Speaker 5: that he could talk about.
Speaker 4: Though Dave was.
Speaker 5: Deep into Eastern philosophy and religion, our group was quick
Speaker 5: to be hospitable to his thoughts, overlooking some of those
Speaker 5: awkward tendencies and celebrating his bravery for taking such a
Speaker 5: big step.
Speaker 4: Now. That little invitation.
Speaker 5: Was a catalyst that started a two year process, a
Speaker 5: process where hospitality transformed strangers into friends. Dave told me
Speaker 5: that he had never experienced such kindness from a group
Speaker 5: of people.
Speaker 4: We were just listening, smiling, talking, and.
Speaker 5: He figured that there must be something special going on
Speaker 5: in this community.
Speaker 4: He began to show up.
Speaker 5: To our first to our midweek small group Bible study,
Speaker 5: and he started by asking questions and even started to
Speaker 5: find some answers. Sometimes his quietness would turn into you know,
Speaker 5: those twenty minute one way conversations, And with each one
Speaker 5: of those, every time he went into that, the group
Speaker 5: responded with smiles, with patience, with a listening ear.
Speaker 4: It was Mercy in action.
Speaker 5: Now Dave was not yet a Christian, but his worldview
Speaker 5: began to be shaped by Jesus' teachings. And it wasn't
Speaker 5: until Dave joined our small group on one of our
Speaker 5: trips to Los Angeles' skid Row that his heart really
Speaker 5: came alive. He said, it was weeks of watching us,
Speaker 5: our small group, pray for those that are on the
Speaker 5: street and handing out bottles of water. It was as
Speaker 5: he watched that that he really started to open his
Speaker 5: heart to Jesus.
Speaker 4: By his third trip with us to Los.
Speaker 5: Angeles, Dave was now joining us praying for the street
Speaker 5: people in need. He was laying hands on them, and
Speaker 5: he was handing out bottles of water. In fact, he
Speaker 5: was now the one that was listening to the twenty
Speaker 5: minute discussion coming coming towards him.
Speaker 4: Mercy captured Dave slowly.
Speaker 5: After two years of warmth and hospitality and kindness and mercy,
Speaker 5: Dave handed his life over to Jesus.
Speaker 4: He was now on mission.
Speaker 5: Now years later, Dave graduated with a bachelor's in theology
Speaker 5: from a Christian university and is exploring God's call for ministry.
Speaker 5: This is amazing. Once being a stranger himself, because of
Speaker 5: the hospitality of this group, he is now an agent
Speaker 5: of mercy in the mission of hospitality.
Speaker 4: That is a miracle of mercy.
Speaker 2: Thanks Number five, the fifth way God wants you to
Speaker 2: be an agent of mercy. See this week. Look for
Speaker 2: people who need a second chance. Oh man, they're all over.
Speaker 2: Everybody's had failures, everybody's stumbled, everybody's sinned, everybody has flaws,
Speaker 2: makes mistakes. And you see people who have failed. Maybe
Speaker 2: they've had a failed business, maybe they've had a failed marriage,
Speaker 2: maybe they've had a failure in some relationship. And you
Speaker 2: need to look for people who need a second chance
Speaker 2: and show them mercy. One of the ways you know
Speaker 2: when somebody needs the second chance is off.
Speaker 3: And they're depressed.
Speaker 2: They feel depressed, they feel in despair because they're being
Speaker 2: How can I recover from this? I'm too far gone
Speaker 2: and they're depressed. And the Bible says in second Corinthians
Speaker 2: two seven, when people sin, you should forgive them and
Speaker 2: you should comfort them so they won't give in to despair.
Speaker 2: They don't fall into that slew of despondency, that trap
Speaker 2: of depression. And giving people a second chance is one
Speaker 2: of the most powerful ways to show mercy. I want
Speaker 2: you to hear Matt's example of this.
Speaker 6: Welcome him a lot, to settleback family. It's good to
Speaker 6: see you. So years ago, I was a health and
Speaker 6: physical education teacher and a coach at a middle school.
Speaker 6: I shared an office with another PE teacher named Brad,
Speaker 6: and Brad was a pretty intense guy. In fact, he
Speaker 6: always seemed angry or frustrated, and actually he was pretty
Speaker 6: hard on the students and wasn't very liked by the
Speaker 6: other staff and kind of unfriendly. I once asked him, dude,
Speaker 6: why are you so angry, and he replied, I'm just
Speaker 6: angry with life. Then, when a relationship actually was an
Speaker 6: engagement that ended, suddenly, Brad became suddenly even more angry
Speaker 6: and bitter. He felt rejected and his anger then turn
Speaker 6: to depression and despair. My coworker became so depressed that
Speaker 6: he couldn't.
Speaker 7: Even leave our small office.
Speaker 6: In fact, he was completely incapacitated by depression. Bra I
Speaker 6: couldn't get himself to go to the copy room and
Speaker 6: make copies. He couldn't go to the lunch room just
Speaker 6: to simply have lunch. And so this is an opportunity
Speaker 6: for mercy. And seeing an opportunity for mercy, I started
Speaker 6: to look for ways to help him overcome his depression.
Speaker 6: Since we had done a lot of team teaching, I
Speaker 6: started taking his classes and teaching them by myself. Sometimes
Speaker 6: I teach both his and my students together, which meant
Speaker 6: handling about eighty middle school boys at one time.
Speaker 7: Yikes.
Speaker 6: All right, but my heart broke for Brad, and I
Speaker 6: look for ways to help him take small steps through
Speaker 6: his depression. I would pray with him in our office,
Speaker 6: and I would bring back lunch to him, make copies
Speaker 6: for him. I shared encouraging Bible versus to him in
Speaker 6: the office, and of course, I invited him to church
Speaker 6: with me. About the same time, Brad's mom gave him
Speaker 6: a book called The Purpose Driven Life, and he had
Speaker 6: a fellow football coach that was sharing the same verses
Speaker 6: with him.
Speaker 5: That I was.
Speaker 7: In his suppression.
Speaker 6: Brad stard coming to church with me and listening with
Speaker 6: open ears. At church, he found more merciful people, people
Speaker 6: who loved on him, and he heard the good news
Speaker 6: that Jesus offered him a second chance and a fresh start. So,
Speaker 6: surrounded by love, Brad gave his life to Jesus. And
Speaker 6: So when I first started teaching with such a difficult
Speaker 6: person like Brad, I wondered why I was there. But
Speaker 6: now I know why God placed me in that smelly
Speaker 6: middle school locker room with a depressed guy. God wanted
Speaker 6: me to be Brad's agent of mercy. Thanks, all right,
Speaker 6: let me.
Speaker 2: Give you one more, and this one's gonna be hard.
Speaker 2: It's going to shock you, and I say it. Number six.
Speaker 2: Look for people who are rude. That should not be
Speaker 2: very hard. Look for people who are rude and be
Speaker 2: kind to them. That will blow their mind because they
Speaker 2: expect rudeness to be greeted with rudeness. The Bible says
Speaker 2: in First Peter three, verse nine, don't repay evil for evil.
Speaker 2: You're not allowed to do that if you call yourself
Speaker 2: a Christian. Never retaliate when people insult you. Never never
Speaker 2: say unkind things to them when they said unkind things
Speaker 2: about you, instead pay them back with a blessing.
Speaker 3: A blessing what, Yeah, this is.
Speaker 2: What God wants you to do, and he will bless
Speaker 2: you for it. If you want God's blessing on your life,
Speaker 2: you need to learn how to be nice and how
Speaker 2: to be kind to rude people and not be rude
Speaker 2: back to them. I want you to hear Sean's story
Speaker 2: of this. Give him warm, welcome.
Speaker 7: Hey, Settleback.
Speaker 8: Back in two thousand and five, I traveled to the
Speaker 8: country of Malawi in Africa on a mission trip, and
Speaker 8: one day our team was in a village ministering to
Speaker 8: a group of people, went a very loud and obviously
Speaker 8: drunk man showed up. I was really trying to intentionally
Speaker 8: started creating some ruckus and just being a huge distraction
Speaker 8: to our group. And his rudeness was clearly disrupting the
Speaker 8: meeting and something needed to be done to stop him
Speaker 8: and to really kind of quiet and calm him down.
Speaker 8: So I decided to be that person and go over
Speaker 8: to him and engage with him. Now, usually your first
Speaker 8: reaction to an irritating person is what.
Speaker 4: Anger.
Speaker 7: Maybe that's a little.
Speaker 8: Bit of what I felt was just kind of a
Speaker 8: little bit of frustration. But I decided in that moment, though,
Speaker 8: to treat this man politely, with respect and with mercy.
Speaker 8: So I quietly pulled him aside and again talking gently
Speaker 8: to him. I honestly did not know how he'd react.
Speaker 8: I really didn't, but I felt compelled to share the
Speaker 8: good news of Jesus with him in that moment. Now,
Speaker 8: he was actually kind of rude and mean at first,
Speaker 8: but I just kept listening and showing him mercy, responding
Speaker 8: with kindness.
Speaker 7: Instead of getting upset.
Speaker 8: As he felt respected, he started to soften up a
Speaker 8: little bit.
Speaker 7: He confessed that he had a.
Speaker 8: Drinking problem and that it caused him to do and
Speaker 8: say some things that he was truly ashamed of, and
Speaker 8: that it was causing his marriage to fall apart. He
Speaker 8: felt that his mistakes could not be forgiven even by God,
Speaker 8: and he admitted that he actually hated himself.
Speaker 7: Now, all of this came.
Speaker 8: Out because he felt valued and he felt safe in
Speaker 8: that conversation with me. Now, in his brokenness, guys, I
Speaker 8: remember looking at him and in love, I put my
Speaker 8: arm on his shoulder and saying.
Speaker 7: That you know what we all make mistakes.
Speaker 8: We've all fallen short of God's glory, and even even
Speaker 8: God will forgive us when other people cannot forgive us.
Speaker 7: But God, in his mercy loved him deeply.
Speaker 8: In spite of the mistakes that he's made, and that
Speaker 8: God would forgive as we know, even the worst offense imaginable.
Speaker 8: So I encouraged him in those words. Now, guys, it
Speaker 8: was in that moment that I watched his expression literally change.
Speaker 8: It went from from being broken and downtrodden to least
Speaker 8: feeling hopeful.
Speaker 7: Now, guys, as I as.
Speaker 8: I walked away, actually as as I began to share
Speaker 8: with him the good news of the godspel and the
Speaker 8: good news of Jesus, he actually made a decision to
Speaker 8: put his faith in trust in Jesus. In that moment, guys,
Speaker 8: it was an incredible experience. Now we left, my team left,
Speaker 8: and we moved moved on to the next ministry outing
Speaker 8: that we're doing, and the end of the trip. And
Speaker 8: fast forward to many years later now, I actually ended
Speaker 8: up receiving a call from my dad, and during our conversation,
Speaker 8: my dad mentioned to me that he had recently talked
Speaker 8: to a man and from our church, which whom I
Speaker 8: had gone on this trip with. Originally, this man had
Speaker 8: just returned from Malawi himself. In the church that he
Speaker 8: was serving in in Malawi, he had met the children's
Speaker 8: pastor of that church, and he had gotten to know
Speaker 8: that man through the time that he was there in Malawi,
Speaker 8: and he had a chance to hear the testimony or
Speaker 8: here the children's pastor's story, and so the children's pastor
Speaker 8: began to share with him, and the man said this.
Speaker 8: He said, well, I used to be the village drunk.
Speaker 8: I was abusive to my wife and kids, and I was.
Speaker 7: The outcast of the village.
Speaker 8: But one day, while an American mission group was here,
Speaker 8: I tried to break up their meeting. And while I
Speaker 8: was drunk, I was being rude and obnoxious, doing everything
Speaker 8: I could to cause them to be distracted. But this
Speaker 8: young guy he pulled me away. He pulled me to
Speaker 8: the side, and he kindly listened to me.
Speaker 7: I was mean to him at first, but.
Speaker 8: He kept being kind to me, so I listened to
Speaker 8: him all the more because of the way he treated me.
Speaker 7: My heart softened, and he led me to Jesus. That
Speaker 7: changed everything.
Speaker 8: And today I serve as the pastor of children in
Speaker 8: our church. That guy who showed me kindness, his name
Speaker 8: was Sean Guys. Of course, in that moment, I'm hearing
Speaker 8: my dad tell me the story and I'm just weeping uncontrollably,
Speaker 8: and it was such a beautiful moment. But I wonder,
Speaker 8: I go back to this story in this moment. Wonder, man,
Speaker 8: what if I would have been rude? What if I
Speaker 8: were decide decided to say, you know what, No, he's
Speaker 8: he's just kind of be that rude and noxious guy,
Speaker 8: and I'm gonna I'm not going to show mercy to him.
Speaker 7: But I made that decision today.
Speaker 8: I made that decision that day to extend kindness in
Speaker 8: mercy to him, and, by God's grace, God use that
Speaker 8: moment to change his life forever.
Speaker 3: Thanks Now, I hope you're inspired.
Speaker 2: There's just six normal people in six normal circumstances of life.
Speaker 2: Being an agent of mercy.
Speaker 3: You can do this.
Speaker 2: You can do these six things, but it will cost you.
Speaker 2: And let me tell you what it's going to cost you.
Speaker 2: If you you start living a lifestyle of mercy, you'll
Speaker 2: get all kinds of benefits and blessings from it. God
Speaker 2: will bless you in amazing ways, but it will cost you.
Speaker 2: And what it's going to cost you is time. You
Speaker 2: got to be willing to take the time. I got
Speaker 2: this email this week, Pastor Rick. The first time I
Speaker 2: met my neighbor, he told me I will never go
Speaker 2: to church with you. First thing he said to him,
Speaker 2: I will never go to church with you. For the
Speaker 2: next five years, I looked for ways to witness to
Speaker 2: my neighbor, but he was definitely not interested, he said.
Speaker 2: Then one morning recently, I was late to work. I'm
Speaker 2: rushing out the door when my neighbor yelled, hey, have
Speaker 2: you got a minute. Everything in me wanted to say no,
Speaker 2: I don't, but I could see he was in a
Speaker 2: bad place. He was in a time of crisis, and
Speaker 2: in that split second I decided to show mercy and
Speaker 2: to be even later to work. So we both headed
Speaker 2: off to Starbucks together. I listened to him for quite
Speaker 2: a while, but in that Starbucks, my neighbor, who had
Speaker 2: insisted that he'd never ever go to church with me,
Speaker 2: gave his life to Christ. And for five years I
Speaker 2: tried to make a difference in his life. But it
Speaker 2: was an act of mercy that opened the door. I
Speaker 2: told you in Matthew twenty five. Jesus in that passage says,
Speaker 2: the one thing you're going to be judged for at
Speaker 2: the judgment is how you treated other people. Jesus says
Speaker 2: in that passage, I was hungry and you fed me.
Speaker 2: I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was
Speaker 2: naked and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison,
Speaker 2: and you visited me. And we will say to the
Speaker 2: Lord Lord, when did we see you naked and clothe you.
Speaker 2: When did we see you thirsty and give you something
Speaker 2: to drink? When did you see you hungry and feed you?
Speaker 2: And Jesus said, and I will send to you inasmuch
Speaker 2: as you did it under the least of these my brothers,
Speaker 2: you did it to me. What we're talking about here
Speaker 2: is the essence of Christianity being agents of mercy. Out
Speaker 2: as we come to the conclusion of the campaign of mercy,
Speaker 2: we're now going to start the lifestyle of mercy. One day,
Speaker 2: the Bible says, God is going to reward you for
Speaker 2: your acts of mercy. I want you to get those rewards.
Speaker 2: I don't want you to be standing going Sorry, I
Speaker 2: was too busy to show mercy. I was too busy
Speaker 2: to be an agent of mercy. The Bible says in
Speaker 2: Hebrews six' ten last, Verse god will not forget the
Speaker 2: work that you've done and the love that you've shown
Speaker 2: him by caring for and helping other. People let's bow
Speaker 2: our heads for. Prayer would you say, This Dear, god
Speaker 2: help me to start looking and listening for people's needs around.
Speaker 2: Me i've been too busy to pay, attention BUT i,
Speaker 2: care SO i want to be. Aware help me to
Speaker 2: see the needs of people around the, me at, work at,
Speaker 2: home at, school in the. Neighborhood And, lord WHEN i
Speaker 2: come upon, people help me not to be offended by their.
Speaker 2: Sins help me to remember that love has a way
Speaker 2: of not looking at other. Sins to be patient and
Speaker 2: make allowance for each other's faults because of our. Love
Speaker 2: help me not to expect unbelievers to act like believers
Speaker 2: until they. Are and, Then, lord help me to choose
Speaker 2: my words, carefully to put a muzzle on my, mouth
Speaker 2: to not say unkind, things but to only say things
Speaker 2: that build people. Up and, Then, lord help me to
Speaker 2: value serving and saving people over keeping, Rules to do
Speaker 2: what matters, Most to see people brought into Your. Kingdom
Speaker 2: now just, Say, LORD i want to be an agent
Speaker 2: of mercy this. Week help me to look for people
Speaker 2: in a crisis and just listen to, them to carry
Speaker 2: their burden and fulfill the law Of. Christ, lord help
Speaker 2: me to look for people with unmet needs and just
Speaker 2: offer practical, help to wade right in and help. Out
Speaker 2: thank You lord that you've done that with. Me help
Speaker 2: me to look for people who are grieving and comfort
Speaker 2: them with the comfort you've given. Me, lord help me
Speaker 2: to look for people who need, friends who are, lonely
Speaker 2: who are, shy who are on the, edges who are socially,
Speaker 2: awkward who are, unpopular nobody pays any attention to them
Speaker 2: at the. Office help me to seek them out and
Speaker 2: just show, hospitality to be, kind to be, loving to
Speaker 2: welcome them, in to invite them to the. Party And,
Speaker 2: lord help me to find people who are going through
Speaker 2: a tough, time a, failure a, scandal a, problem people
Speaker 2: who need a second. Chance help me to offer for them,
Speaker 2: mercy to be there in their corner when everybody else walks,
Speaker 2: Out help me to walk. In And, lord help me
Speaker 2: even with people who are rude to this, week just
Speaker 2: instead of being rude back to be kind to, them
Speaker 2: that your kindness and your mercy might break, through that
Speaker 2: ultimately they.
Speaker 3: Might Find Jesus.
Speaker 2: CHRIST i asked you to make me an agent of,
Speaker 2: mercy AND i humbly pray this In jesus'.
Speaker 6: Name.
Speaker 1: AMEN i don't know about, you BUT i am encouraged
Speaker 1: after that. Message and let's keep the encouragement going with
Speaker 1: a letter from one of our. Listeners Here's.
Speaker 2: Rick have you ever taken a step of faith with
Speaker 2: no idea what's? Next, well with the help Of Daily,
Speaker 2: Hope nicole did just. That she wrote this note to. Me,
Speaker 2: Hello Pastor, RICK a close friend of mine suggest THAT
Speaker 2: i listened To Daily hope for you years. Ago and
Speaker 2: WHILE i had faith AND i loved The, LORD i was.
Speaker 2: Lost But Daily hope rescued. Me my relationship With jesus
Speaker 2: grew in ways AND i never knew. Possible soon, baptized
Speaker 2: and over the next four, YEARS i grew in boldness
Speaker 2: and in faith in The. Lord AND i even left
Speaker 2: a high powered and high salaried position to follow a,
Speaker 2: different purpose driven path with The lord's. Guidance it's been
Speaker 2: a literal step forward in faith without knowing the next.
Speaker 2: Steps certainly not SOMETHING i was capable of years, ago
Speaker 2: and Already god is showing me his. Goodness you, know
Speaker 2: as my husband explores his own relationship With jesus, again
Speaker 2: your ministry is literally A god's. Sin your ability to
Speaker 2: teach the good news and ways that are easy to
Speaker 2: understand and, apply it is just. Amazing we also follow
Speaker 2: your suggestion to find a good local. Church so thanks
Speaker 2: for all you do for believers and those who are
Speaker 2: Seeking christ around the. World Rick you're loved and appreciated
Speaker 2: and no doubt a vessel Of god's grace and. Mercy Signed. Nicole, Well,
Speaker 2: Nicole i'm so glad that you've grown in your relationship
Speaker 2: With jesus and you've taken the important step of getting.
Speaker 2: Baptized what an important step this, is finding a church,
Speaker 2: home really listening to The, lord and living a purpose driven.
Speaker 2: Life all of that happens when you take time to
Speaker 2: listen To god's. WORD i love how your friend shared
Speaker 2: daily hope with, you and now you've shared it with your.
Speaker 2: Husband you, know any of you can do. This anybody
Speaker 2: can do. This you can share daily hope with your
Speaker 2: friends and with your relatives and with people you don't even.
Speaker 2: Know and, well then watch How god brings life to
Speaker 2: others through his.
Speaker 1: Word you KNOW i Share Pastor Rick's Daily hope all the.
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Speaker 1: in a, restaurant everyone needs hope and encouragement from The
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Speaker 1: next time when we look Into God's word for our daily.
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